The Portage Cove harbor parking lot may have to be bigger than planned after the Haines Borough Planning Commission discovered a discrepancy in parking space size.

PND Engineers presented three conceptual design options for a boat launch and harbor parking lot at a community meeting Wednesday, June 28.

They differed in what is to happen with Lookout Park. One option leaves the park at its current site, another moves the park to a site closer to the water on the parking lot’s southeast corner and a third would keep the park at its current site, and add the southeast corner park.

But the discussion took a turn when engineers planning the project revealed that each design incorporates a nine-foot width for parking spaces to reach the number of spaces required to receive funding for the boat launch.

Nine feet is a national standard but borough code states that parking space width must be 10 feet. The lot was set to be about 4 acres.

“One way or another we have to figure out how to make it work,” said commission chair Rob Goldberg. “Maybe by some magic of geometry (PND Engineers) can reconfigure the lines and figure out how to squeeze in larger spots.”

The borough needs to include about 150 parking spaces in the lot to qualify for grant money from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to fund the design for the two-lane boat ramp and boarding float.

At a public hearing of the Planning Commission following the meeting on the parking lot design, members Larry Geise and Brenda Josephson were in favor of keeping the parking spaces at 10 feet wide.

“We have our code for a reason,” Josephson said. “I was disappointed that (PND Engineers) weren’t aware of the code when designing it.”

The Planning Commission asked PND Engineers to rework the conceptual design to adhere to code.

“If we can do it, 10-foot spaces I think would work better with the type of vehicles we’re expecting,” Goldberg said. “If you’ve got a full-sized truck, it’s pretty crowded in a 9-foot space. We’re waiting to see what the engineers come up with.”

Goldberg said changing code is something that could be explored. Only a few parking lots around town have been designed to the 10-foot width.

“It’s something we’ll have to look into that there’s a requirement for spaces for cars and spaces for pickup trucks and trailers,” he said.

The Planning Commission ultimately approved conceptual design option #1, which includes removing Lookout Park and building a new park on the southeast corner of the parking lot.

“I’m still very positive about getting this next phase done, and I’m happy to see it moving forward,” Josephson said.